Example · company book

A company book, from documents to a printed hardcover

A leadership team wanted the story of a quarter's work as a book they could hold: ten chapters, an index, and the facts checked. Claude built it from the team's own documents, a reading copy was reviewed first, and the printed edition followed. This is how it was done, and how you can do the same for a report, a handbook or an annual review.

How it was made

1. Gather the sources. Claude read the team's documents, emails, calendar entries and meeting notes, and listed the facts and people involved. Where it could not find a source it marked the gap instead of filling it in.
2. Agree the shape. A foreword, a contents page, ten chapters of a few pages each, an index and a colophon. Each chapter ends with its sources, so a reader can check any claim.
3. Set one house style. Serif text, a bold sans-serif for headings, a full-width opening page for each chapter, pull quotes, small sidebars and a few figures: the same look on every page.
4. Review a reading copy. Before any print file existed, the team read the whole book on screen, with a short list of the things to check (facts, names, numbers), and corrections went back to Claude.
5. Build the print files. The book was laid out as web pages and turned into print-ready PDFs at the product's exact page and cover sizes (the sizes come from Preparing files), with the spine worked out for the page count.
6. Preview, then order. A preview came before the order each time, and a one-copy proof was ordered along with the copies for the team.

That book was made before the Quantum connector existed, through the partner API. The same book can now be made and ordered entirely from the assistant: ask it for the print sizes, check the files, get a quote and say yes.

Prompts you can use

Replace what is in brackets with your own details.

I want a [number]-page [report / handbook / annual review] printed by Quantum as a [product, e.g. 8.5×11 side-sewn matte hardcover]. Read the documents in my [folder name] folder. Call get_print_specs first. Suggest a structure with a foreword, a contents page, [number] chapters and an index, and list anything you could not find a source for. Don't invent facts.

Write the full book and give me a reading copy I can review on screen, with a short list of the facts, names and numbers I should check. Put the sources at the end of each chapter. Use one consistent style: serif text, a full-width opener for each chapter, pull quotes and a few figures.

When I approve the reading copy, build the interior and cover PDFs at Quantum's exact sizes, run check_files, and quote one proof copy shipped to [address]. Show me the total, tax included, and wait for my yes before you place the order.

What we'd tell you

• The reading copy is the most useful step. People catch wrong names and numbers on screen much more cheaply than on paper.
• Order one proof copy first. Hold the real thing in your hands before you order for everyone.
• Keep sources with the text, so every claim can be checked later.
• Ask the assistant to mark gaps rather than fill them, and read what it proposes before you agree to it.
• Real orders need an owner or admin to switch on live ordering and set a daily limit. Read how live orders work.

Next: a photobook, a children's book, or go back to how it works.